On the Menu: Hershey Chocolate Cake with Mint Buttercream Frosting

My brother's birthday was a few weeks ago. He loves all things mint. Mint chocolate chip ice cream is his favorite flavor of ice cream. Inspired by this I was on a mission to make the ultimate mint chocolate cake. This was going to be a surprise for him as we had never made this cake before. I found a recipe and changed it a little. Once thing I changed was to up the amount of mint extract, because I didn't think it smelled minty enough when I was mixing it up. I thought it tasted great and had an excellent flavor.

On my brother's birthday we had dinner out and then returned home for dessert. Tracy had picked up some ice cream and I pulled out the surprise cake. My brother loved it. He said he thought it tasted delicious. I added the pinwheels on top of the cake to decorate it up a bit since it was for his birthday. What do you think? The polka dot napkins and floral napkin rings were DIY projects that Tracy and I had made earlier. They were super easy to make and looked great with this cake.



Ingredients
Cake:
2 cups Sugar
1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup Unsweetened Hershey Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Boiling Water
Frosting
2 Sticks Salted Butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
4 teaspoons Mint Extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 cups Powdered Sugar
Green Food Coloring

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 eight or nine inch round pans.
2. Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with mixture on medium to combine, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and slowly stir in the boiling water.
3. Pour batter evenly into the pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a knife or tooth pick inserted into cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.
4. To make the frosting you will beat the butter, cream, and both extracts on medium until smooth. Slowly add in the powder sugar and beat on low until just combined. Add the food coloring until you achieve the desired shade of green you want. Mine was a pastel mint color, but I wish I had made it just a shade darker. Beat on medium for about a minute until light and fluffy.
5. If the frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon or two of cream and beat for about another minute. I ended up adding almost a tablespoon more to mine. When the cake has cooled frost and enjoy.
6.Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

On the Menu: Caramel Sundae Chocolate Cake

This cake is one of the best cakes that I have had in a while. It is so easy to make because it starts with a box cake mix, which means I don't have to measure out so many ingredients. I used the Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix to get that richer chocolate flavor, but you can use your favorite chocolate cake mix. Also, I cooled the cake completely before serving, but it would also be delicious served warm but you would have to be quick about serving so that the ice cream wouldn't melt. Seriously what's better than chocolate, cake, and ice cream?

Ingredients
Box Chocolate Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)
Small Box Instant Chocolate Pudding
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Water
Jar of Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Jar of Marshmallow Ice Cream Topping
Vanilla Ice Cream



Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray.
2. Mix the cake mix and pudding together. Then add 4 eggs and mix. Next mix the oil and water in.
3. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until a knife when inserted into the cake comes out clean. Then turn out of pan and cool on a wire rack.
4. When completely cooled move the cake to the dish you will serve/store it in. Pour the 1/2 of the marshmallow topping onto the cake and then 1/3 of the caramel.
5. Serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and more toppings if you desire, you still have part of the marshmallow topping and the caramel topping that you can add to top the ice cream.

On The Menu: Chocolate Fudge Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting And Chocolate Ganache

This Chocolate Fudge Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Ganache is crazy good. It has a few steps but it will be something you will and those you share it with will devour. Jessica and I make this cake a few times a year and have yet to meet anyone who does not love it. The cake is rich, moist, and fudgy. It is topped with a thick layer smooth, creamy peanut butter frosting. If you stopped there the cake would be absolutely delicious but we take it one step further by adding a chocolate ganache. Ganaches are so simple to make and they give your cake an extra wow factor.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

For the peanut butter frosting:
2 cups creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

For the ganache:
8 oz milk or semisweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half

Directions:
1. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans with butter or baking spray. (The first time I made this cake we made it 3 layers. The second time I made 2 layers.) Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper and lightly grease the paper.
2. In a very large bow, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and be sure that the batter is well-mixed and no flour bits remain. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes on the same rack, if possible, without the cake pans touching each other, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in t he pans for about 15 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely.
4. To make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the peanut butter and butter. Sift the sugar into the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Starting on low and gradually increasing (to prevent the sugar from covering your kitchen) the speed to medium-high, beat the ingredients until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowel as needed, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the heavy whipping cream.
5. To frost the cake: Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand, cardboard cake round, or large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup of the peanut butter frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with a scant amount of frosting to make a crumb coat to keep the crumbs from popping through the final frosting. You will need just enough to lightly cover the cake. Let the cake chill for 15 to 30 minutes until firm, then use the remainder of the frosting to create a smooth final coating. Once the cake is fully frosted, chill the cake again and let it firm up before covering it with the ganache.
6. To make the gananche: In a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth.
7. To decorate with the ganache: Gently pour the ganache over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for a couple hours to allow the gananche to set completely.

On the Menu: Stuffed with Oreos Cake

If you love chocolate and oreos you are going to love this cake. I made this for a friend's birthday, because oreos are her favorite thing ever. Everyone loved it. The filling really makes this cake and it is a surprise until you cut into the cake. Using a box cake mix makes this super easy and saves time, but you can use your favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe too.



Ingredients
*The Filling
4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
3 Egg Yolks
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/3 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
12 Oreos (crushed)
*The Cake
Box of Chocolate Cake Mix (mixed with ingredients the box calls for)
*The Glaze
1 cup Confectioners Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
1 Oreo (finely crushed)

Instructions
1. Put 12 oreos in a ziplock bag and crush. You want the cookies to be broken into small pieces but you do not want to crush them too fine. You want small cookie crumbles not a crushed cookie powder. Set the cookies to the side.
2. In a bowl you need to mix the all of the filling ingredients except the oreos. Once these ingredients are well mixed you will add in the oreos. You want to mix in the oreos just enough to distribute them through the filling. You want the filling for the main part to remain white with oreos in it. (I overmixed mine because I wasn't sure and my filling looks chocolatey. Tastewise it doesn't matter, but my filling ended up dark so in the pictures it is hard to tell filling from cake, if your filling remains mostly white you should be able to see it.) Put the filling in a pastry bag (I used a ziplock bag that I snipped one corner off of) and store in the fridge until we are ready for it.
3. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray your bundt pan with nonstick spray. Take your chocolate cake mix and add in the ingredients the box calls for (I used a Dark Chocolate Cake Mix, but any chocolate is fine). Pour half of your cake mix into the bundt pan, make sure you evenly pour it around the pan. Set the other half of the cake mix to the side.
4. Pull your filling out of the fridge, you want to distribute your filling into the bundt pan. Squeeze the filling around the bundt pan. Don't squeeze it all out in one spot, you need it to go all the way around. Pour the rest of the cake mix on top covering the filling. Pop it into the oven. This could take 35-50 minutes, depending on the cake mix you used. Mine took 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven. Leave cake in the bundt pan for a couple of minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. Let the cake completely cool. Then move the cake to dish you want it on.
6. In a bowl you will whisk together the confectioners sugar and milk for the glaze. Start by only adding one tablespoon of the milk and add more as needed. You can keep adding a little sugar or milk at a time until the right consistency is reached. You want the glaze to be thin enough to pour over your cake but thick enough so that it won't all run off the cake. Then take that last oreo cookie that you finely crushed and sprinkle over the cake.

Chocolate Fudge Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting

After making this cake I couldn't help but think how perfect it would be for Halloween (one of my favorite days of the year!). It is a cute cake with the chocolate ganache and peanut butter frosting. I added chocolate sprinkles for good measure. This cake is very easy to make but make sure that you don't over mix.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
chocolate sprinkles for topping

chocolate ganache
5 ounces chopped milk chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

peanut butter frosting
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease or spray a 14-cup bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together milk and sour cream.
4. Beat butter in the bowl of your electric mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) until creamy, then add in sugar and beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides if needed. Add in vanilla extract and beat until combined, then add in eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Continue to scrape down sides if needed. Once combined, add in half of the flour mixer, beating on low until just combined, then add in the milk and sour cream, beating again. Finish but adding the rest of the dry ingredients, just beating until combined or even stirring with a spoon. Remove paddle attachment and fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Pour in the greased bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cake is set. Do not overbake - cake will be dry! Let cool for about 30 minutes in the pan, then gently invert and let cake cool completely before covering in ganache.

Chocolate Ganache:
Place chocolate in a large bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan over low heat until it's warm and bubbles appear on the edges. Once warm, pour over the chocolate and whisk constantly until smooth - about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in vanilla extract. Let ganache sit for 20-25 minutes until it thickens and "sets up" a bit. Once cake has cooled, pour overtop. Place in the fridge to firm up quickly while you make the peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting:
Melt peanut butter until creamy (I microwave for 30 seconds, stir well, then microwave again in 15 second increments until melting), then stir in coconut oil. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth (about 1-2 minutes), then let sit for 15-20 minutes until it cools and sets enough to be pourable but not super runny. Pour over chocolate ganache and cover in sprinkles! Note: you cannot taste coconut whatsoever.

Recipe via: Martha Stewart

Triple Chocolate Pound Cake

I have baked this chocolate pound cake several times and I was very surprised that I hadn't shared the recipe here. A few weeks ago I found out that a very dear former coworker had been very sick. She had always loved sweets so I baked this up for her. This pound cake is rich and chocolately. The best part is the thick layer of chocolate frosting.

Ingredients for Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 Tablespoon half and half
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Ingredients for Rich Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. half & half
1/4– 1/3 cup chocolate chips, for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sour cream, sugar, and half and half, blending ingredients well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add half the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and blend well; then add the remaining flour mixture and blend everything well. Fold in the mini-chocolate chips, stirring to distribute the chips evenly in the batter.
4. Pour or spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 70 to 75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean (your toothpick may not come out totally clean because of the melty chocolate chips in the loaf; be careful not to overbake or loaf may be a little dry). Cool in loaf pan 10-15 minutes; then remove from pan and cool completely before frosting.

Directions for Frosting:
Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar. Then add in the cocoa powder and blend well. Add 1 Tbsp. half & half and mix well (if you’d rather have a thinner consistency, just add more half & half). When pound cake is completely cool, spoon all of the frosting on top of the cake and spread out to cover the top–you’ll have a nice thick layer of frosting! Then garnish with the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, sprinkling down the center of the cake.

Milky Way Cake

This cake definitely is not for the health food nut but it is so good served with ice cream or whipped topping. I was tempted to eat the delicious frosting out of the mixing bowl instead of pouring it over the cake. The frosting does not set to a completely solid state so the slice of cake will not be perfect but it is the taste that counts, right? I love the crunch of the pecan but I left them off half of my cake for Jessica.

Ingredients: 11 whole Milky Way Bars (regular Size)
3 sticks Margarine
2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Baking Soda
½ cups Buttermilk
3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups Sugar
4 whole Eggs
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 dash Salt
½ cups Milk
1 cup Chopped Pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. In a double boiler or in a saucepan over very low heat, melt 8 Milky Way bars together with 1 stick margarine, stirring to combine. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.
3. Sift flour and salt together and set aside.
4. Mix baking soda with buttermilk, then add 2 teaspoons vanilla and set aside.
5. Cream 1 stick of margarine with the 2 cups of granulated sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the creamed mixture, mixing after each addition. Add melted candy bar mixture and mix to combine.
6. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan or 9 x 13 baking pan and bake for 1 hour or until cake is done in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
7. To make the icing, melt the remaining 3 Milky Way bars with remaining 1 stick margarine (in a double boiler or in a saucepan over very low heat). Add powdered sugar, dash of salt, milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and chopped pecans and stir over low heat. Add more milk if needed.
8. Pour over the cooled cake and allow to set. Cake will be very sticky. Don’t expect neat, perfect slices.

Perfectly Chocolate Cake

After baking our favorite white cake we were so happy to find this recipe for the best chocolate cake we have ever had. It was so moist and chocolatey without being too rich.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sugar

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with the Chocolate Frosting recipe below.

Ingredients for Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
2. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
* We doubled the frosting recipe.

Too Much Chocolate Cake

We made almost a dozen of these cakes during the holidays to give to friends as gifts and they were a huge hit. The recipe was is surprisingly simple so the next time you have a craving for chocolate cake spend a little time making this cake and your entire family will thank you.

Ingredients: 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan. 3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Instead of a frosting we made a simple chocolate glaze to drizzle over each cake.

Glaze Ingredients: 3/4 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla. 2. Drizzle warm glaze over cake.

Chocolate Velvet Cake

Chocolate cake is a classic dessert, especially when topped with a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting. We made this cake for our Dad because he isn't easy to please when it comes to desserts but he always loves a good chocolate cake. We love frostings with marshmellow cream because they are not overly sweet and are extremely light and fluffy.

Ingredients for the Cake: 1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Ingredients for Buttercream Frosting: 2 sticks butter, room temperature
15 ounces marshmallow cream
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. 2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Beat in vanilla. 3. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape bowl as needed.
4. Pour batter into pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before inverting cakes onto rack to cool completely. 5. Make the buttercream: In mixing bowl, beat butter and marshmallow cream until fluffy. Beat in cocoa, chocolate, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water. If too thin, refrigerate about 5 minutes. 6. Place one layer on platter. Spread top with 1 cup buttercream. Place second layer on top. Frost entire cake with remaining buttercream.